we still need a few full-out dance clubs in the Village. It would be great to bring back the space that's now a gym on the 2nd floor of the warehouse on Isabella at Yonge. I forget what it was called in the 80's & 90's but it's very spacious up there and there's no neighbours nearby to complain about noise at night. Was it Komrads?

Yes this was Komrads
 
I honestly can't see the old Masonic Buildings knocked down or much messed with. Unlike the Reynolds Building, it's still all in fine shape--maybe Toronto's best extant example of 70s-style Gastown/Pioneer Square-esque adaptive reuse. And as long as Bootmaster's still there, the early 70s hippie-cowboy aura endures. (Great that the vertical Gloucester Mews sign still exists--for now.)

Agreed, though I believe the charming little interior mews that was part of that reno is long since gone - I had my ear pierced at a jewellery store in the mews in 1973 when it was very much not the thing for men to do.
 
It's refreshing to hear that this building is not 50-stories or so tall like many new developments these days
The proposal for 501 Yonge Street just down the street is simply terrifying which I hope doesn't set a precident for new developments on the Yonge Street strip.
 
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Agreed, though I believe the charming little interior mews that was part of that reno is long since gone - I had my ear pierced at a jewellery store in the mews in 1973 when it was very much not the thing for men to do.

Which is part reason why the addition which housed said mews is the likely tower location. (It's still decent enough 70s neutral neo-vernacular minimalism. But without its original interior raison d'etre, it's the prime "expendable" element here.)

Incidentally, the architects for the reno + addition, Adamson Associates, had their offices here.
 
It was a swell place. There was quite a vogue for inserting such high quality small scale retail infill developments ( red brick, set at jaunty angles, etc. ... ) around town in those days, especially around Yorkville, and that shopping mews ( forget the name of it ) on the west side of Yonge just north of St. Clair.
 
and that shopping mews ( forget the name of it ) on the west side of Yonge just north of St. Clair.

Delisle Court. (Which has actually adapted itself quite well over the years, even if some of the upsy-downsy retail spaces a la Book Cellar have been "rationalized". And the second-floor medical offices are soooo fern-bar Carly'n'James-era.)
 
I've gotten the sense that in the past several years, more and more gays simply don't feel the need to stay in their neighborhoods and feel comfortable going to clubs with everyone else. One of my friends, openly gay, has a hate on for people that only want to mingle with their own kind. He left the village a long time ago and never looked back.

Except that Fly is consistently packed to the brim every weekend. Clearly the demand for these kind of spaces still exists. Not everyone is a "PoMo."
 
Delisle Court. (Which has actually adapted itself quite well over the years, even if some of the upsy-downsy retail spaces a la Book Cellar have been "rationalized". And the second-floor medical offices are soooo fern-bar Carly'n'James-era.)

Wasn't it renovated at some point? I seem to recall that when it opened in the mid-'70s it was somewhat different, and architecturally better. And, while we're musin' about mewses ( and Ridpath's fake Tudor ), there was that place on the west side of Yonge just south of St. Clair that disappeared a decade or more ago ...
 
Wasn't it renovated at some point? I seem to recall that when it opened in the mid-'70s it was somewhat different, and architecturally better.

Well, it *has* been pushed and pulled and reno'd with time--and yet even after everything, it still carries its 70s brick-faced mewsy quirkiness, open-air skylighted court, (operating!) exterior escalators, and all...
 
word is that it's one of the "top architects" on this one (ie gloucester). i'm guessing this means clews. as if he hasn't done/is in the process of doing enough projects in the area already....but anyway in all seriousness it's not the name but rather the design that matters so i guess i don't care who it is so long as it's done well.

my business friend who saw the renderings said they were exceptional. told him he should have snapped a pic on his cell phone!! he said the integration of old-meets-new is what really struck him. good on clews for respecting the heritage elements. can't wait to see the full renderings at the community meeting.
 
word is that it's one of the "top architects" on this one (ie gloucester). i'm guessing this means clews. as if he hasn't done/is in the process of doing enough projects in the area already....but anyway in all seriousness it's not the name but rather the design that matters so i guess i don't care who it is so long as it's done well.

my business friend who saw the renderings said they were exceptional. told him he should have snapped a pic on his cell phone!! he said the integration of old-meets-new is what really struck him. good on clews for respecting the heritage elements. can't wait to see the full renderings at the community meeting.



HP and Teeple are very good also
 
The site, for those unfamiliar with the area

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge, then click again on the image for full size.

Gloucester Street, just east of Yonge (Gloucester Mews on the left), and walking east along Gloucester Street to the lane-way where the property ends



The lane-way side of the proposed property facing Norman Jewison Park

 
I have seen the proposal in full, the town homes are being brought to the property line and 2 Gloucester including the modern stairwell addition are not being touched.
 

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